


Dissolution

by Comicsohwhyohwhy



Series: Rise and Fall [1]
Category: Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616
Genre: And I still have feels for him, Hurt Tony Stark, Inverted Tony is an asshole, M/M, Oh Tony, Superior Iron Man, This is rather painful, Tony Feels, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-23
Updated: 2014-11-23
Packaged: 2018-02-26 16:15:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2658347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Comicsohwhyohwhy/pseuds/Comicsohwhyohwhy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>How ironic, that he would die in that place.</i><br/>After all, this was where he had agreed to wipe Steve’s mind.</p>
<p>Tony Stark has been captured by the Cabal.</p>
<p>Takes up events from Hickman's Avengers/New Avengers arc, especially <i>New Avengers</i> 26. Features Superior Iron Man, the inverted version of Tony.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dissolution

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [missbecky](http://archiveofourown.org/users/missbecky/pseuds/missbecky) for reading through this and feedback :)

The first few weeks Tony was visited more often than he liked.

Various members of the Cabal came by to either gloat at him, or, worse, try and press him for answers regarding the whereabouts and plans of the Illuminati. And of course, with the Cabal, pressing him meant torture.

He had nothing to hide – since he had left them, not agreeing with their inefficient, tame methods, he hadn’t been in contact. He had no idea what Reed and the others were up to. It was probably no more efficient than what they had been doing for months and he was glad to not be part of it anymore, even now.

He still screamed himself hoarse as Thanos was electrocuting him all over again.

***

It only took about two days for him to start shaking almost incessantly. He felt sweat run down his back and he knew that this wasn’t just the pain from his injuries and the torture.

He desperately craved a drink.

The hours started melting into one another as he tried to get the nausea under control.

***

They fed him with some horrible nutritional supplement. It was a colourless, flavourless paste with an oily texture.

For a while, Tony refused it. But that only meant they forced it down his throat, so he decided he was better off consuming it like a well-behaved captive.

Apparently they wanted him alive.

And Tony didn’t want to die. Once he was out of this place, he would have his revenge on all of them.

Unless the world ended before then.

Tony picked at a scab.

***

When Terrax left, after another round, Tony was curled up in a corner of the cage. He was breathing shallowly. Every cell in his body seemed to be on fire. It was probably personal, he thought dimly.

After all, the Illuminati had kept Terrax in a cage just like his for months.

***

No time at all seemed to pass, then Black Swan was standing in front of his cell, and there was something like pity in her eyes. Tony shifted into a hunched sitting position and curled his lips into a sardonic smile. Right. Now he was the captive, and she was the one who could pity him. The irony.

“You are going to crack, Anthony. I can see it in your eyes.”

Tony looked at the floor. Blood was dripping onto his thigh.

So many people had told him he had already cracked, in the last months. He had always furiously denied it. But maybe they were right.

He felt empty inside, and at the same time, there was anger there. He felt coiled like a spring.

He knew that he used to feel different.

He didn’t answer the Swan, as always. Eventually, after more empty threats and promises of salvation, she left. Tony stared at the cuts on his arms. They were an angry red. He should tell the Cabal to get him some disinfectant, if they really wanted to keep him alive.

***

When Tony had stopped believing in a rescue – after all, he knew very well that he had no friends left that would go to such lengths for him – Natasha and Jessica arrived.

Relief washed over him. He was finally going to get out of here. Finally, he would be able to save the world.

But apparently, they wanted to talk first. He tried to keep his annoyance down.

When they talked about that secret meeting, Tony felt his throat close up.

But then Natasha wanted him to beg for help, and Tony got angry, angrier than he’d been in a long while. He felt something within himself snap.

They left again without freeing him. When the anger had died down, he stared after them with hollow eyes.

***

Tony slept fitfully, and whichever way he turned, he hurt. His body was littered with bruises and injuries. Damn the Cabal.

(Damn him not being hero enough to stop them.)

In one dream, there was a blond man. His eyes were shining brightly, full of excitement and warmth. And Tony felt like he belonged, next to him.

He woke up with a gasp and buried his head in his hands.

***

There used to be kindness in Steve’s eyes. When they last met, there had been nothing but ruin and desperation there.

Tony thought that maybe he had cracked long ago. Maybe they both had.

***

It had been days since the last visit. Tony wondered if they had abandoned him here, left him to rot in the place in which the Illuminati had first met, at the very beginning, when it looked like there was still hope.

His thoughts became foggier with each passing day. There was no nutrition, just a bucket with stale water in one corner, and the torches that had illuminated the vault extinguished very soon.

Tony was sitting in complete darkness, and as time went by, he felt the darkness creep even closer, beginning to permeate his skin. He didn’t know where the darkness ended and where he began anymore.

How ironic, that he would die in that place.

After all, this was where he had agreed to wipe Steve’s mind.

Tony shivered.

***

They didn’t come anymore. No one did.

At some point, Tony felt the Necropolis shake. He got up on shaky legs (he hadn’t realised how weak he had become), almost expecting someone to come for him.

But no one came, and more time passed.

And just when he thought that this was it, that all hope was lost, just when he was almost ready to abandon himself to the darkness he felt lurking in his mind, his cage shattered.


End file.
